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 Thoughts
from the Director:
Rick Hindman
The AAA8 Regional Advisory Council to Host Alzheimer's Disease Seminar on Sept. 24
Alzheimer's is a disease that attacks the brain. It is the most common form of dementia. Join us as we welcome guest speakers from the Alzheimer's Association.
Dixie Huffman of The Alzheimer's Association, WV Chapter (Serving Athens, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Noble, Perry and Washington Counties) and Greg Winslow of The Central Ohio Chapter (Serving Hocking and Perry Counties) will present on Friday, Sept. 24, at 10 a.m. at The Comfort Inn, Marietta.
Topics will include: What is Alzheimer's; What are the associated behaviors; What can I expect; What are the legal aspects and What services and supports are available through the Alzheimer's Association. The program is free and open to the public. Seating is limited; RSVP to 1-800-331-2644.
AAA8 Sponsors Memory Walk & Staff Team
Staff at AAA8 have been busy building a team - The Movers & Groovers - and raising funds for the Sept. 18 Memory Walk in Williamstown, WV, to benefit The Alzheimer's Association. Staff have participated in "Casual for a Cause" dress-down days, hosted Sundae Mondays and are raffling a great "Relaxation basket."
AAA8 will have a display at the event as well. If you'd like to support our team with a donation, call 1-800-331-2644.
Currently more than 5 million Americans have Alzheimer's, and 78 million baby boomers are at risk - unless we find a way to change the course of this disease. |
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Medicare Check-Up Days Set
The Ohio Senior Health Insurance Information Program (OSHIIP) scheduled Medicare Check-up Days:
Athens - Oct. 26
Hocking - Dec. 7
Meigs - Nov. 4
Monroe - Oct. 20
Morgan - Nov. 10
Noble - Sept. 3
Perry - Oct. 28
Washington - Dec. 13
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From the Ombudsman:
Residents' Rights Week: Oct. 3-9
"Defining Dining... It's About Me" AAA8 will be collecting Nursing Home Resident's favorite recipes that week to publish a cookbook. Stay tuned for details!
_________________ A Poem: My Children Are Coming Today
By: Elise Maclay
My children are coming today. They mean well, but they worry. They think I should have a railing in the hall; a telephone in the kitchen. They want someone to come in when I take a bath.
They really don't like me living alone. Help me to be grateful for their concern and help them understand that I have to do what I can do as long as I can.
They're right when they say there are risks. I might fall. I might leave the stove on. But there is no challenge, no possibility of triumph, no real aliveness without risk.
When they were young and climbed trees and rode bicycles and went to camp. I was terrified. But I let them go, because to hold them would have hurt them.
Now our roles are reversed. Help them to see. Keep me from being grim or stubborn about it. But don't let them smother me. (source: Celebrations of Age) |
Celebrate Senior Events This September!
- September is Senior Center Month
- September 12 is Grandparents Day
- Sept. 12-18 is Assisted Living Week |
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Choices Program Brochures Now Available  Choices is a consumer-directed Medicaid waiver program that provides home and community-based services and supports to older Ohioans. Providers can be agency or non-agency professional caregivers or individual providers such as friends, neighbors or some relatives (spouses, parents, step-parents and legal guardians are ineligible). The consumer is the "employer of record" for individual providers and is responsible for hiring, firing, training, and completing all necessary tax forms and payroll duties for these workers. The Choices program uses a Fiscal Employer Agent to assist the consumer with the financial aspects of the program Buckeye Hills Area Agency on Aging is the area's administrator of Choices and PASSPORT, cost-effective, in-home alternatives to nursing home care for Medicaid-eligible residents age 60 and older. For more information on this and other Caregiver services, call 1-800-331-2644 and if eligible, an in-home assessment will be scheduled
 AAA8 Provides Assistance with Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) Applications The state has released the income eligibility guidelines for the federally funded Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP). Households are eligible for HEAP assistance if their income is at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, an increase from the previous level of 175 percent.
The state's Home Energy Assistance Program assists eligible low-income Ohioans meet the cost of home energy bills. The Program, administered by the Department's Office of Community Services, pays a one-time payment for the current winter heating season. Households with elderly or disabled members may qualify for a larger amount of assistance. A special component of HEAP, the Winter Crisis Program, is administered by Community Action agencies.
The Winter Crisis Program provides assistance once per heating season to eligible households that are disconnected, threatened with disconnection, or have less than a 10 day supply of bulk fuel. To be eligible for home energy assistance, the total household income of an applicant must be at or below 200 percent of the 2009 federal poverty guidelines listed below:
Size of Household: Total Household Income: (Twelve Months)
1 up to $ 21,660
2 up to $ 29,140
3 up to $ 36,620
4 up to $ 44,100
5 up to $ 51,580
6 up to $ 59,060
7 up to $ 66,540
8 up to $ 74,020
For households with more than eight members, add $7,480 per member to the yearly income.
Applications for the Home Energy Assistance Program are now being accepted. Copies are available at www.areaagency8.org. For assistance, seniors should call AAA8 at 1-800-331-2644.  Elder Caregiver Award Nominations
The Ohio Department of Aging is calling for nominations for the Elder Caregiver Award. Family members and other informal caregivers are the backbone of our long-term care system, contributing more than 1.1 million hours of unpaid help to others - care valued in excess of $10.4 billion. Criteria for the award include that the caregiver or recipient of care must be age 60 or older and the caregiving must not be job-related. Nominations may be made by an individual or an organization; self-nominations are not accepted. Anyone interested in nominating a neighbor, colleague, family member or friend may do so online.
The department will accept nominations through Sept. 30. Honorees will be recognized at a ceremony in the spring. Nominate someone online |
 Enhance Community Living Provides Existing Services in a New Way...
Coming soon statewide, a new service, Enhanced Community Living (ECL), will be available under the PASSPORT Medicaid Waiver program. The service promotes aging in place by offering tenants of multi-family, affordable housing communities on site access to a range of interventions that will help meet established health goals and proactively manage chronic health conditions.
ECL services are personalized, consumer-focused and outcome-based. The goals are to help a consumer to remain in his or her home longer, to reduce the need of nursing home usage and to decrease inappropriate or avoidable hospitalizations or emergency room use. An ECL consumer can expect to be an active participant in goal setting and management of the person's chronic health conditions. The consumer will have access to services multiple times a day, for shorter time periods, and the services will be delivered by a designated team of nurses and direct care staff.
ECL is different from other PASSPORT services, specifically personal care and assisted living. Personal care services focus on providing hands-on assistance, in scheduled amounts of time, to compensate for functional deficits in activities of daily living (ADLs). Assisted Living service provides 24-hour access to staff and services in a licensed setting.
When a PASSPORT consumer chooses the ECL service, a case manager will work with the consumer to develop a care plan to meet the consumer's health goals. The consumer is an active participant in setting the goals and is engaged in managing his or her own health care. ECL provides necessary services, such as personal care, daily wellness checks and chronic disease education, in a more flexible format for smaller amounts of time.
ECL is available to PASSPORT waiver participants who reside in an eligible, multi-family affordable housing community, being served by a PASSPORT ECL provider. Not every multi-family affordable housing community in the state will have a provider who is serving the building. In addition, the consumer must have assessed needs that can be met with ECL.
If a PASSPORT waiver participant is interested in the ECL service, the individual should contact his case manager, who will complete an assessment of the waiver participant's needs.
Contact your PASSPORT Administrative Agency at 1-866-243-5678 more information about Enhanced Community Living service in your area. |
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Save The Date:
AAA8 Annual Choices Expo 2010: Nov.10!
8 a.m. - 2 p.m. Comfort Inn, Marietta
Sponsorship & Exhibitor details are now available.
Call Mindy Cayton at 1-800-331-2644
for a sponsorship brochure. |
| Saying Thanks to Ohio's Legislators
 This month, ask your home and community based clients and consumers to write a note of thanks to state legislators for the services they receive which enable them to stay at home. State funded programs like PASSPORT, Choices, Assisted Living Waiver or home-delivered meals, caregiver support, adult day services, personal care or homemaker services, and others. For a list of legislators, visit www.areaagency8.org. If you'd like to share, please send our office a copy.
Did you know? Ohio's investment in home and community based care represents just 2% of Medicaid expenses - compared to 30% spent on nursing homes. More than 24,000 PASSPORT consumers are served in their homes at a cost of only 30-40% of the amount the state would pay for similar serivices in a nursing home. (source: O4A) |
Participates in White House Meeting
Gary Ricer, Guernsey, Monroe and Noble Community Action (GMN) CEO was recently invited to attend a meeting with the President's White House Staff, Office of Public Engagement in Washington, D.C. Tony Sarmiento, Senior Services of America (SSA) Executive Director selected six executives from throughout the United States, two from Ohio, one Tennessee, one Pennsylvania; one Chicago and a Baltimore representative
After flying into Dulles International in D.C., Ricer was briefed and received security clearance. The small select group then met and addressed national older American issues. The Senior Services of America topic of discussion was "Implementing SCSEP in Rural Communities".
After touring the White House the group sat down with Jeffrey Cruz, President Obama's White House Staff Deputy Director for the Office of Public Engagement.
SCSEP is currently funded nationwide at $825 million dollars. Ricer suggested the President meet with a group of successful seniors who have secured permanent gainful employment through GMN's SCSEP training program in southeastern Ohio. Perhaps an electric media launch could be conducted to heighten education and awareness.
Guernsey, Monroe and Noble Community Action currently has over 40 Older Americans enrolled in its Training and Job Placement Programs. The newest endeavor is the Digital Inclusion Initiative (DII) where as seniors learn computer and internet skills in this "electronic age." One final suggestion was made to White House staff OPE Deputy Director Cruz, "Launch a campaign to educate seniors more on the National Health Care Reform Act."
"In my opinion I don't believe our senior citizens fully understand it, and I know I don't," concluded Ricer. |
Ohio Assoc. of Area Agencies on Aging Offers
Associates Program Membership
The O4A offers Associate members links to information and services for Ohio's Older adults. O4A provides information, analysis and resources necessary to be at the forefront of aging related policy and budget decisions.
Associates receive critical and timely information and services as well as communication about aging related issues in the state and federal arenas as they happen. An Associates membership will help your organization become an effective voice for Ohio's older adults and programs and services that affect them. To learn more, call 614-481-3511 or visit www.ohioaging.org.
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